Liberal Faction of Bukhara

The Liberal Faction was an informal grouping of liberal politicians in the Emirate of Bukhara that was active from 1836 to 1920. The Liberal Faction consisted of reformists, pacifists, ethnic and religious minorities, and classical liberal intellectuals, and the faction rivalled the Royal Faction of Bukhara and the Nationalist Faction of Bukhara for power. The faction supported the creation of a liberal Bukharan state in which foreign trade was blocked, the economy was deregulated, religious freedom was implemented, all minorities and immigrants were guaranteed full citizenship, and the country would pursue a policy of pacifism. The Liberal Faction was therefore mostly ignored by the Emirs of Bukhara, who saw the Liberal Faction as a threat both to their rule and to the greatness of their country.